Guns kill 1,300 US children every year, study finds

About 1,300 US children under the age of 17 die from gun-related injuries per year, a government study has found.

Researchers at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also found that guns seriously wounded about 5,800 children each year.

Boys accounted for 82% of all child firearm deaths while black children were 10 times more likely to be killed by a gun, according to the study.

More than half of these deaths were homicides while 38% were ruled suicide.

The study, published in Pediatrics on Monday, also found 6% of firearm-related deaths were fatalities from accidental gun injuries.

“Firearm injuries are a leading cause of death among US children aged one to 17 years and contribute substantially each year to premature death, illness and disability of children,” said CDC’s Katherine Fowler, who led the study.

“About 19 children a day die or are medically treated in an emergency department for a gunshot wound in the US,” she told Reuters.

CDC researchers examined national data in what they describe as “the most comprehensive examination of current firearm-related deaths and injuries among children in the United States to date”.

The study found a 60% increase in gun suicides from 2007-15, according an analysis of national injury records.